A History Project
by ABunchOfMellarky
Summary: Katniss and Peeta used to be the best of friends until one day it all went down the drain. Now years have passed and Katniss is facing the beginning of the end of her childhood. With all the changes being forced upon her will Peeta's reappearance in her life bring comfort or more destruction? Everlark. Modern day au.


**A History Project **

**Chapter One  
**

"Miss Everdeen…"

Those were the first two words spoken in the tiny room. For the past five minutes, Katniss had been sitting in an uncomfortable chair, alternating between crossing her arms over her chest and tinkering around with the trinkets on Ms. Effie Trinket's desk. Her favorite was the bright pink Newton's Cradle. However, Ms Trinket did not seem to be sharing in her contentment of sitting there and saying nothing.

A perfectly manicured hand with bright pink nails reached out and stopped the balls from moving back and forth, ending the distraction from the sight and the peaceful clicking sound. Katniss slumped back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest again. Ms. Trinket cleared her throat.

"Miss Everdeen…" the older woman began again. "You've been sent here because you seem to be having some problems."

"I have straight A's," Katniss answered, narrowing her eyes at the woman.

"Yes," Effie said. "Yes, I am aware of your rather exemplary academic record. However, some of your teachers are concerned that you're displaying some rather anti-social behavior…"

"I'm shy," Katniss explained.

"They seem to prefer the word hostile."

"Look….if this is about what happened in History class yesterday..."

Ms. Trinket cleared her throat. "Mr. Abernathy claims that you…" She paused a moment, fixing her reading glasses on the tip of her nose to better read the written report in front of her. Katniss scoffed, knowing that it would take more than a strong pair of lenses to decipher the scribbles of her History teacher. "…pushed a fellow classmate into a model trebuchet, triggering a rock to fly at Mr. Abernathy's head while he was grading a stack of papers."

"He was sexually harassing me."

"It says here that he was asking you to the Prom…"

"Well Mr. Abernathy didn't really see what happened!" Katniss bit back, leaning forward in her seat. It was true that Cato asked her to the Prom, but his method of doing so is what caused her to push him into that trebuchet. She could still feel the sensation of his slimy hands on her hips. "And why would he have a model trebuchet loaded in the first place?"

"Probably because he wouldn't expect anyone to set it off while under his supervision." Miss Trinket stated.

"Regardless," Ms. Trinket said. "Your other teachers seem to be in agreement." Effie placed the report written by her History teacher back down on her desk and picked up a tattered manila folder that was about a half an inch thick. She flipped through it for a moment before looking back up at Katniss. "According to your file you've expressed an interest in going to The University of Pennsylvania."

"Yes," Katniss answered. "I have a 4.4."

"As I said before, Miss Everdeen, I am well aware of your academic record. I bring this up because I feel I should stress to you that entrance into Ivy League universities is based on more than academics alone. Recruiting officers are also very interested in the social engagements of the students they allow into their undergraduate programs." Katniss remained silent as Ms. Trinket continued to shuffle through her file. "I would encourage you to reach out to some social organizations and participate in some community projects. In middle school you were a member of the archery club?"

"Yes," Katniss answered weakly.

"Well the high school offers an archery club as well. I can get in contact with-"

"No," Katniss said, cutting her off immediately. "I don't do that anymore."

"It says here that you were also a member of the choir. You could do that again. Or if you would rather the drama club is just starting to rehearse the spring musical. They're doing _The Music Man._"

"I don't sing anymore either."

Effie merely smiled, reaching into her desk drawer and pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Katniss. It was an extra curricular form "Well then you're in luck," she said. "Because Mr. Moran is looking for someone to help him with the costumes. They meet after school today. If you'll just take this home for your mother or father to sign-"

"My mother…" Katniss spat.

"For your mother to sign then. Now…" Effie looked up at the clock and smiled. "It looks like you've made it out of here in just enough time to get to Mr. Abernathy's class. Have a good day, Miss Everdeen."

* * *

Katniss handed Mr. Abernathy the pink slip in her hand, not missing the opportunity to glare at him for putting her through the torture that she had just experienced. Her History teacher took the paper, his eye flitting over the signature from Effie Trinket and he smiled. He placed his hands on the back of his head, leaning back in his swivel chair while smirking at her.

"Welcome back to class, Miss Everdeen," he said. "You can have a seat."

Katniss turned around and went to walk toward her seat, gritting her teeth when she noticed that her normal seat by the window had been taken by Cato. He winked at her and Katniss had to fight the urge to throw him into a different model weapon all over again. Since she was no longer able to sit in her preferred seat she took a seat in the back corner next to Madge Undersee instead. The friendly girl offered her a small smile and moved her bag in toward her desk to make it easier for Katniss to get where she was going.

She took a notebook and a pen out of her bag before throwing it on the floor under her desk. She then remained completely silent while she watched Mr. Abernathy as he walked to the other side of the room and started handing out blue pieces of paper.

"It is the beginning of the final quarter and the end of the school year is approaching," he said. "Which means it is time... for research projects."

A collective groan came over the classroom, causing Mr. Abernathy's face to curl into a sadistic smirk. Katniss rolled her eyes at him. She expected that he relished in causing his student's misery.

"I find it prudent to remind you…" he continued. "That your junior year is the most important year of your high school career. It would be wise for those of you interested in attending a university to do well on your finals this semester. This includes your research project for my class as it counts for forty percent of your grade."

The groans were almost deafening. Katniss, however, was thrilled and not only by the prospect of independent research, but also by the look of sheer terror that had fallen over Cato's face.

By the time one of the blue sheets of paper had made it down to Katniss' desk, almost the entire class was in a titter. She did not understand why until she saw the four most heinous words one could see on an assignment printed in black ink in the first paragraph.

_You and a partner…_

Katniss' head snapped up in a panic and she looked around the room, seeing everyone around her all trying to claim partners before they were stuck with someone less than desirable. She had a suspicion that they were probably all trying to avoid partnering up with her. She made eye contact with Madge who was looking at her shyly. Katniss sighed in relief and the blonde girl was about to open her mouth when Mr. Abernathy interrupted her.

"Quiet please!" he shouted. "For those of you who have just chosen partners, I hate to disappoint you…" Another round of groans sounded, this one far louder than the first. "But I will be assigning partners for you. You won't be working with your friends… You're actually going to have to work with someone that you have never spoken to before. A novel concept. I know. Let's begin shall we? Cato Anderson and Thresh Guthrie…"

Katniss ran a hand through her hair. She did not know what she had done to Haymitch Abernathy to make him want to make her life a living hell every day she was in his class, but the man had been obsessed with torturing her since the moment she walked through the door on the first day of school. Between the meeting that he had arranged with the guidance counselor and this research project she had the idea that he was purposefully trying to kill her.

She watched with rapt terror as pair after pair was formed, noting the looks of horror or relief, annoyance or indifference that came over her fellow students as their names were called. The pool of students was becoming smaller and smaller. Madge had yet to be called, and Katniss was starting to think that perhaps she would be lucky after all. She held on to that hope until she finally heard her name called.

"Katniss Everdeen and…"

When Mr. Abernathy made eye contact with her, she knew that he drew out the pause on purpose to piss her off. As to not get a detention for screaming at him, she broke his gaze, choosing instead to survey the group of students that were still unattached. There was still Madge, who Katniss could tell was crossing her fingers to be called. Marvel Aurterbury was sitting in the corner, baked out of his mind as always. Then there was Thom Sullivan, Delly Cartright, and finally the worst of all…

"Peeta Mellark."

Now she knew it for certain. Haymitch Abernathy _was _trying to kill her. Her head snapped over to find Peeta's. He was sitting on the other side the room near the door, looking horrified and flabbergasted. They sat there sputtering at each other from across the room, while their history teacher remained clueless and indifferent.

When she looked at Mr. Abernathy, he shrugged at her, thinking that he had made a perfect choice - That Katniss and Peeta would be a perfect pair. That the antisocial bookworm and the somewhat daft Homecoming King would both be both able to benefit from each other. That they both needed to learn how to deal with new people if they wanted to function in the real world. That they had never spoken before in their lives and would now be forced to work together if they wanted to pass his class. That he would be the person to bring these two completely unrelated strangers together.

He had no idea how wrong he was.

* * *

_The moment that Katniss finally decided that she would no longer stand for the injustice being perpetrated against her was when she stood in front of her living room window and watched her father's Jeep pull out of the driveway. Her father and Mr. Hawthorne were both laughing in the front seat, perfectly happy to be leaving her behind while they went off and had fun. She fixed a scowl on her face and crossed her arms over her chest as she stomped off into her bedroom, passing her mother as she went. _

"_Where are you going, Katniss?" Lillian Everdeen asked, rubbing her round belly as she followed her five-year-old daughter into her bedroom. _

_Katniss did not answer her mother, choosing instead to go to work immediately. She reached up and grabbed her Mulan backpack from on top of her desk and walked over to her bed, emptying its contents. A handful of markers fell out onto her bed along with a wad of papers that she had drawn on at school. She unwadded them, lying them smooth against her comforter and looked at her mother scathingly. _

"_These aren't for you anymore," she said. _

"_They're not?" Lillian asked. Katniss shook her head. "I'm sorry to hear that. They're very pretty." _

_Katniss did not respond. She walked around the other side of her bed, grabbed her favorite stuffed squirrel, Peanut, and stuffed him into her bag. She also put two of the markers that had fallen out of the bag back in – green and orange, her favorite colors – and stuffed some blank pages of paper along with them. Next to go into the bag was her Luke Skywalker action figure and a worn copy of "Green Eggs and Ham." _

"_What are you packing for?" Lillian asked, taking a step into the room so that she could sit on the bed and rest her swollen feet. _

"_I'm running away," Katniss said, matter of factly. _

"_You are?" Lillian asked. "Well, how are you going to eat? It will be lunch time soon, you know." _

_Katniss walked over to her closet door, opening it in a flourish and making a racket as she dug around for a few moments. She pulled out a nerf crossbow and her mother had to stifle a laugh. _

"_Oh I see…" Lillian said. "Does this have anything to do with Daddy not taking you hunting today?" _

"_No!" Katniss said. "I just don't like it here anymore. So I'm running away." _

_Katniss threw her Mulan bag over her shoulders and carried her crossbow in her left hand. Lillian followed her as she walked to the front door. Katniss reached up and with as much strength as her five-year-old body could muster, she pulled the heavy door open and moved outside. Lillian followed her out, closing the door behind her and sitting down on the porch swing. When Katniss had made it to the sidewalk she yelled after her. _

"_Just remember, even girls who are running away aren't allowed past the end of the street." _

_Katniss continued to ignore her mother. If only her mother could realize just how far the end of the street really was. Katniss had never made it three houses down from her own, and the end of the street was a whole four houses away. _

_She squared her shoulders and prepared herself for the perilous journey ahead of her, marching steadily one foot at a time until she made it further and further away. By the time she made it past her next door neighbor's house she figured it was too late to turn back now and she built up the courage inside her until she had as much as it took to make it all the way to the end of the street. _

_It was an entirely new world to her, one that she had never seen before. She could see houses that she did not even know were there and she wondered who lived in them. Deciding that she needed a new place to call home, she walked over to a big oak tree to her right and sat down, her back against the trunk. She opened up her bag, taking out her stuffed squirrel and setting him on the ground next to her. She grabbed her nerf bow and placed it on her lap, ready to shoot down any intruders who would come and jeopardize the security of her new home. _

_However, as the minutes passed, Katniss quickly found that running away was not very fun. There weren't a lot of people to play with when you ran away, and there wasn't much to do either. About an hour had passed and Katniss had already drawn on all of the papers that she had brought with her. While she was drawing, her green marker had even gone out, making her very upset. And on top of everything else, she was quickly growing very hungry. _

_As she began to grow hungrier and hungrier, she tried shooting some of the squirrels that were wandering around the tree. However, she found to her disappointment that her nerf arrows did very little to help her capture some lunch. She should have brought some fruit snacks with her before she left. _

_After the sound of her tummy grumbling had passed, Katniss then heard a different sound, one that upset her. She raised her bow to a defensive position and gasped when she saw an unfamiliar head of blond hair. _

"_Go away!" she yelled at the boy. He looked to be about her age, but she was not interested in making friends. "This is my tree!" _

"_Is not!" the boy said back. "It's in my yard." _

_Katniss looked around, noting that the tree was indeed in front of a house that she was unfamiliar with. She lowered her bow, supposing that since it was his tree after all, maybe he would still let her stay here if she was nice to him. She did not want to have to go looking for another home again today. _

_The blond boy walked toward her, holding something in his hand. Katniss could not tell what it was right away. He sat down next to her and held up the item in his hand, showing it to her. He was holding up a piece of white bread in his hand, keeping one in his other for himself. _

"_I saw you outside when I was eating lunch," he said. "You didn't have anything to eat. So I thought you might be hungry. My mom usually cuts off the crusts, but I had to sneak these out of the pantry. And I'm not allowed to use knives." _

"_Thank you," Katniss said, lifting the slice of bread to her mouth and taking a bite. The boy did the same and they smiled at each other. _

"_I'm Peeta," he said once they were finished. _

"_I'm Katniss." _

"_Do you want to come inside? We can play in my room." _

_Katniss looked at her tree and then back to her house where her mother was still sitting on the front porch. She saw her mother wave at her from the distance. Looking back at Peeta she decided that she could afford to leave her tree for the afternoon. _

"_Okay," she said. "But I don't like playing with dolls." _

"_I don't have any dolls," Peeta said. _

* * *

"He's probably just upset because Trinket's not putting out anymore."

"That's gross, Gale," Katniss said, adjusting her phone against her ear as she slammed the door of her tattered old Chevy, wincing as the metal squeaked upon movement. She knew when she had purchased the piece of shit that it was probably not going to last her very long. However, she had hoped that she would at least get through high school with it. Right now she had a feeling that wasn't going to happen.

"Gross but true. Senior year, Thom walked in on them fucking on the desk in Trinket's office. She pulled strings and got him out of an in school suspension in return for his silence."

"Well," Katniss said, struggling as she hauled her intensely heavy book bag over her shoulder. "Thom isn't very good at keeping his silences then."

Gale laughed. "No I guess not," he answered. Katniss smiled and leaned up against her car, suddenly very sad that she could not see the look of amusement on his face. Gale had gone away to college last year and the hole in Katniss' life caused by his absence made her ache. It was just one more reason why this school year could be marked down as one of the worst of her life.

"When are you coming home?" she asked, closing her eyes. "I miss you."

"Spring break, baby!"

Katniss chuckled and kicked a lose bit of asphalt on the street below her feet. "You mean you aren't getting a car full of bimbos and driving down to Florida?"

"Aw come on, Catnip, you know I'm not that kind of guy."

Katniss was about to respond when she was suddenly distracted by the sound of the loudest chainsaw that she had ever heard. She turned her head to the right and watched as four houses down from her a giant tree branch fell to the ground. Her heart gave a jump and she gasped.

"What the hell!?" She yelled into the phone.

"You okay?" Gale asked. "Is that a chainsaw? Is Jason after you?"

"I have to go!" she yelled into the phone before hanging up and shoving it in her pocket. She dropped her book bag to the ground in front of her car and started speed walking down the street to the house on the corner. As she got closer, she noted the sight of her gorgeous new neighbor standing on a ladder chopping away at the branches of the oak tree that she had loved since childhood.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she yelled at him. The bronze haired man did not answer, so Katniss walked nearer to him, being mindful to stay out of the way of falling branches. "WHAT THE _HELL _ARE YOU DOING?!"

This time it seemed that he heard her, or at least noticed her, as Katniss did not think that he could hear much of anything between the saw and the earmuffs on his head. He turned the saw off and removed the muffs, smiling at her as he started making his way down the ladder.

"Oh, hey, Katniss. How was school today?" he asked, rubbing his hands on his dirty cargo shorts which happened to be the only item of clothing that he was wearing.

If Katniss were any other teenaged girl, she would probably find herself incapable of speech. She could not deny that her new neighbor was one of the most attractive men that she had ever met in real life. However, his looks never really seemed to phase her. She had a feeling that it was because she did not really trust the man.

He and his brand new wife had moved into the vacant house down the street just months ago, and Katniss has suspected that something was not quite right about their relationship from the moment that she saw them. The woman, Annie, seemed to be a little out of it. She never quite looked anyone in the eye, and whenever they talked to the Everdeens, or any of the other neighbors on the street, her husband, Finnick, seemed to do all of the talking for her. Not to mention there was a significant difference in levels of attractiveness in their relationship. Annie was pretty, but kind of plain and never put much effort into her appearance. Finnick looked like a model. She couldn't help but wonder how that happened.

There was also the matter of his job. He did something from home, but Katniss could not figure out what it was. Whatever it was it was enough to afford him some really expensive toys, the most significant of which being his BMW. It also attracted a lot of visitors…particularly attractive women.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she asked for the third time. Finnick jumped slightly but the smile remained on his face. Katniss was close to hyperventilating.

"Finally getting around to cutting down this tree," he answered, walking over to the small branches that he had cut down and collected them in a pile off to the side. "I've been wanting to do it since Annie and I first looked at the house, but it's just been so cold and then we got busy. But now…" he started taking off the gardening gloves that were protecting his hands. "Business has been slow today and the weather is finally so nice, I thought I'd might as well get started."

Katniss looked up in horror at the remaining branches spread out into the sky. This tree was part of her life, part of her childhood. She didn't even want to think about how long it had been here, giving the people of Panem Pennsylvania shade.

"Jolly Rancher?" When Katniss looked back down, Finnick was standing in front of her holding a piece of grape flavored candy in his hand. He had already popped one in his mouth and was swirling it around in his mouth.

"No thank you," Katniss spat.

Finnick chuckled. "You're better than me. Whenever I see something sweet I just have to grab it…"

"How can you just cut down this tree?" she asked. "Do you have any idea how long it's been here? Do you have no respect?"

"It's dead, Katniss," Finnick said, gesturing to the knotted leafless branches and the tumors bespotting the misshapen trunk. "And I have plans for the backyard. Trust me it's going to be great. And you and your sister can come over and use it anytime."

"You can't just cut down this tree without talking to anyone!" she yelled.

"It's my tree…"

"Is this even legal? This is dangerous. You could kill someone!"

"Well obviously I'm not going to do it all by myself," he replied. "I'm just getting some of the smaller branches. I'll probably have to call in a professional sooner or later. It's just too big. But hey, if you have a boyfriend or something I could use some help…"

Finnick ran a hand through his hair and smiled at her again, and suddenly Katniss just could not take it anymore. Without even another word to him she started back toward her house and left him behind, confused.

"See you around!" he yelled after her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself forward. It did not take her long to get back to her house. She grabbed her discarded bag from the street and stormed inside, slamming the front door and throwing her bag on the couch.

"Mom!" she yelled. "_Mom_! Have you _seen _what that _asshole _down the street is doing to the oak tree?! Isn't there some kind of neighborhood association that keeps people from doing this?" Katniss was met with silence. "MOM!"

With a dramatic sigh, Katniss made her way down the hallway to her mother's room where she expected to find her sitting on the bed reading a trashy novel. However, there was no one there, save for her sister's stupid cat. Buttercup hissed at her and Katniss glared. She walked further down the hall where her the door to her sister's room was cracked open. Knocking on the door, she peaked inside and saw Prim hunched over a computer with headphones in. Once Prim saw her, she removed them from her ears and looked up at her sister expectantly.

"Where's Mom?" Katniss asked.

"She had to take another shift at the hospital," Prim explained. Katniss' shoulders slumped.

"Have you had dinner?" she asked.

Prim shook her head. "There's nothing to eat. I looked about eight different times."

Katniss dug in her pocket and found about five dollars wadded up, some of it obviously having been through the washing machine since the last time she wore these pants.

"McDonalds then?" she asked.

Prim smiled and nodded. Katniss nodded along with her and made her way to the door once again. She sighed as she slipped back in her car and banged her head against the steering wheel. Once she gathered herself, she started the car. It took her two good turns of the key to finally get the car to agree with her, and as she made her way down the street, she trained her eyes not to look at the sight of the disappearing oak tree to her right.

It was safe to say that this had been a shitty shitty day.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! Hope you all enjoyed it. **


End file.
